Tech brands go to Germany

By Anne Weber-Ploemacher, BSK, Germany

How professional tech PR supports technology-driven companies entering the German market

Are you a successful American, South African, Polish or Swedish (these are just examples of the 193 UN member states) company active in the technology sector? Whether you are an established company or a nascent start-up, at some point the question of expanding into other countries will arise. Given the Internet, the whole world seems within reach. But is it really that simple?

How do you go about expanding your business internationally? There is the language barrier as well as cultural differences that need to be considered – and the competitive situation in the country of your choice may also be quite challenging, to say the least. Let’s assume you’ve managed to establish a small local foothold and have a sales office with 2-3 employees ticking over, or you’ve found a partner willing to distribute your products or your solutions. Congratulations – but most of your work is still cut out for you.

For one, consider the fact that you’re a nobody. Your brand name, your company, your products are total strangers to the decision-makers. In such a situation, your sales reps are facing a pretty tough job: they have to make the brand known and build trust in the product while generating leads at the same time. And all of this is not going to happen overnight, because German decision-makers, especially in the B2B sector, tend to be on the conservative side and like to trust in well-known solutions – especially solutions made in Germany.

How can you, as a totally unknown company in Germany, place your excellent products successfully on the German market and cut the deals you’re aiming for?

This is where marketing and PR activities tailored specifically to tech companies enter the picture. The goal of a strategically well-planned communication strategy is to get your company and your products or solutions talked among a selected target group of decision-makers.

These decision-makers, usually a clearly definable group of people in the specialized tech B2B sector, are characterized as follows:

And this is exactly where you should be showing up. This is where people should be talking about your company – and not once, but regularly. This is how you build awareness, and awareness creates trust. People know you and, people are talking about you. When your salespeople make contacts the ground will be prepared for successful business relationships.

If you need support for your German market entry, feel free to contact us. As an experienced tech PR agency, we know the relevant media representatives, how to prepare topics in a concise and readily comprehensible manner, as well as how to place speakers at industry events and congresses. We will support you in your market entry or when expanding your market presence in Germany. We will be happy to provide you with references from companies that we have successfully assisted in entering the German market. We look forward to hearing from you!